as  we  cross the mountain,  we can walk 
 only  at  night. long ago, someone  here 
 must've angered  the sun,  and  today it 
 still burns  us strangely.  but with the 
 sunset  the  air comes raining back down 
 and  gets  thick enough to  breathe.  it 
 carries  with it smells  from  far away, 
 colourful sparks  for the imagination, a 
 sharp  contrast  for the stale  black of 
 the night.                               
                                          
 the others think  i'm young,  they don't 
 take  me  seriously  and  i   fear  they 
 snicker  a  bit.  you  usually  get  old 
 before you  learn  the  trade enough  to 
 take  other people. but  i do  lead them 
 safely     forward,     every     night. 
                                          
 however,  currently  there  seems  to be 
 something going  on ahead. those  around 
 the  corner   have  stopped,   shouting, 
 pointing.                                
                                          
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                                          
 my greatest treasure, the                
 book of stars,   is   a  combined   map, 
 calendar and  timepiece as  long as  you 
 know  what year it is.  every page  is a 
 grid  of  nine  starfields, hand  drawn, 
 below which are  written  coordinates in 
 both  space and  time. a  lot  of  it is 
 applicable  on earth,  but  not all.  it 
 hints  of  other  places  -  some  stars 
 reordered,  some   names  i  have  never 
 heard.   sometimes   the    dates    are 
 impossible.                              
                                          
 those  pages are exactly what i scramble 
 for  right now.  i've stopped breathing. 
 i sling open  the  book of  stars  a bit 
 too quick, spilling all my notes on  the 
 ground.  one lands  on my  foot, it is a 
 drawing of  a  muscle cow, but  i  could 
 care less right now.                     
                                          
 for  it seems like there's a new moon in 
 the sky.